Wrongly accused

IMMIGRATION | Think illegals are more likely to be involved in crime? Think again

October 29, 2007

BY ERIC HERMAN Staff Reporter/eherman@suntimes.com

Some say undocumented immigrants -- illegal aliens, as they're often called -- spread crime when they come to the U.S. Others say that is a myth.

Reliable statistics on crime by undocumented immigrants are hard to come by. But the Chicago Sun-Times has learned that less than 4 percent of the adults in Illinois prisons have been identified as illegal immigrants. And as of mid-July, less than 3 percent of the inmates in Cook County Jail were illegals.